autopsy

The article only hints at how the "information collected could be misinterpreted," suggesting "pending lawsuits" are the reason the government doesn't want to "create standard autopsy guidelines." I wonder if there are other reasons?

New York - An effort to create standard autopsy guidelines that could document a link between toxic air at ground zero and deaths of 9/11 rescue workers has been abandoned by the federal government amid concerns the information collected could be misinterpreted.

The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, in a note posted Friday on its Web site, said the agency "instead will pursue other avenues for documenting long-term health effects from exposure to air contaminants from the World Trade Center disaster."

Outside medical experts who reviewed the plan suggested focusing on monitoring epidemiological patterns of disease in those exposed.

In a Sept. 15 draft, the institute proposed examining specific sections of the lungs and creating a "tissue bank" to preserve certain organs and bodily fluids for later testing.